High School

Lakeland shuts out crosstown rival Lake Gibson in a lightning-shortened showdown

Defending Class 4S state champions Lakeland picked up its 4th win playing without several injured starters

Bill Kemp

Lakeland shuts out crosstown rival Lake Gibson in a lightning-shortened showdown
Lakeland shuts out crosstown rival Lake Gibson in a lightning-shortened showdown /

LAKELAND, FLORIDA – And just like that, it was over.

Class 4S defending state champions Lakeland picked up a 21-0 Florida high school football crosstown rivalry win at Lake Gibson Friday, in a game that went into lightening delay, was eventually called and ruled a final.

“They did it for safety reasons I believe,” Lakeland head coach Marvin Frazier said. “The weather was getting pretty bad.”

After several shots of lightning flashed across Virgil Ramage Stadium, the 4S District 7 matchup halted play with 1:03 left in the third quarter. Both teams headed to their locker rooms, and approximately 45 minutes later, the game was declared a final while steady rain blanked the facility. 

Lakeland wideout Carlos Mitchell fills in a quarterback and races for a 43-yard touchdown run
Lakeland wideout Carlos Mitchell fills in at quarterback and races for a 43-yard touchdown.  / By Bill Kemp

Short several skilled position players, Lakeland utilized three different quarterbacks in the game to replace the injured Zander Smith. Carlos Mitchell jumped behind center in the first quarter, took a direct snap, and then bolted for paydirt, zig-zagging his way down the field on a 43-yard touchdown run to stake Lakeland to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

“When you look at our situation right now, playing with a backup quarterback, and we are down three running backs, and we are down a couple of offensive linemen, yet these guys show the resiliency to continue to play,” Frazier said.

Lakeland scored twice more in the second quarter when sophomore backup running back Jadarius Dobie scored on a 9-yard touchdown run, and Jamar Taylor collected an 80-yard touchdown pass from senior backup quarterback Rick Penick.

“We got ballplayers, and we are never going to handcuff our kid's talent,” Fraizer said. “We have kids that can throw the football and run the football. Here at Lakeland, we try to utilize everyone’s ability the best we can.”

Lakeland improved to 4-2 and will host undefeated Bartow Thursday at 7:30 p.m.. Lake Gibson fell to 3-2 and will travel to defending 3S state champions Lake Wales Friday.

“Everything is a grind right now,” Frazier said. “This win was a steppingstone and we are looking forward to playing Bartow.”

-- Bill Kemp | billkempchief@gmail.com | @sblivefl

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Bill Kemp
BILL KEMP

Bill Kemp is an award-winning sports journalist at the state and national levels. Over the course of 25 years, he’s covered more than 4,000 sporting events including the NFL regular season, playoffs and Super Bowls, Major League Baseball regular season and spring training, NASCAR racing at Daytona and Talladega International Speedways and major college football regular seasons and bowl games. He was named by the Associated Press Sports Editors as a Top 10 sports columnist and Top 3 by the Alabama Press Association for best sports column and sports page design. He has served as preps editor at the Lakeland Ledger as well as sports editor at five different newspapers in Florida and Alabama. He has been published in dozens of newspapers including USA Today, the Miami Herald, the Orlando Sentinel, the Jacksonville Times Union and the Tampa Bay Times. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida. He has been writing for SBLive Sports since 2022.

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